Edinburgh’s Kyah Streeval, right, gets set to steal a base against Columbus East on Tuesday.
Mike Wolanin | For the Daily Journal
After seeing its season opener canceled because of weather on Saturday, Edinburgh might not have been too upset if Tuesday’s chilly opener had fallen by the wayside as well.
Columbus East jumped out to a 10-0 lead after three innings and went on to hand the Lancers a 16-4 defeat.
“I think it’s just the growth that we need as a team,” Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor said. “For some of them, this was their first actual game. So there’s development on our side that we’re working through. We made some uncharacteristic plays in the beginning there, but it’s stuff we’ll clean up as we go through the season.”
The Lancers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a leadoff double by starting pitcher MacKenzie Bieker and a one-out single by Angel Carman. But the Olympians answered with four in the fifth on a three-run homer by Megan Kennedy and and RBI single by Syracuse recruit Kenzie Foster.
Edinburgh made things closer with three in the bottom of the fifth on a solo homer by Gracie Crawhorn and a two-run shot by Carly Cowan, but East was able to finish off the victory in five innings.
Bieker finished 3 for 3 for the Lancers. Cowan went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Crawhorn was 2 for 3.
“The middle of their lineup, 1 through 4, 1 through 5, they’re pretty solid,” East coach Rusty Brummett said. “They have some hitters. They have some young players that are going to get a lot better. I always tell the girls it’s never as good as it seems or as bad as it seems.“
The Lancers were plagued by six errors.
“I think our veterans that have been here, we’re going to have to get production out of them, and they understand that,” Taylor said. “For the first game, we really kind of showed the things that we need to learn and the things that we need to work on, which is kind of what we were looking for out of this.“
Edinburgh has two more Class 4A opponents in Whiteland and Franklin coming to town on Thursday and Monday. The Lancers then visit Oldenburg Academy on Tuesday before playing a back-to-back with defending Mid-Hoosier Conference and regional champion Hauser April 7-8.
“We know the first part of our schedule is brutal,” Taylor said. “We start off with three 4As. We knew it was going to be tough, but it’s good experience for the girls. It’s going to teach them things, so that’s what we’re looking to get out of the beginning of the season.”